Mortician Shawn Troy stands at the grave of his father, William Penn Troy Sr., at Hillcrest Cemetery outside Mullins, S.C., on May 23. The elder Troy, who developed the cemetery, died of COVID-19 in August 2020, one of many Black funeral directors to succumb during the pandemic. For five decades, the closing words at funerals in this town of 4,400 …
MULLINS, S.C. — When the last mourners departed and funeral director Shawn Troy was left among the headstones, he wept alone. “This year was unlike any other year I’ve ever lived through in the funeral service,” said Edith Churchman, the fourth-generation owner of a mortuary in Newark, N.J. that serves a largely Black clientele. “We were getting bombarded with COVID …
MULLINS, S.C. — When the last mourners departed and funeral director Shawn Troy was left among the headstones, he wept alone. For five decades, the closing words at funerals in this town of 4,400 had been delivered by his father, William Penn Troy Sr. Now the elder Troy was gone, one of many Black morticians claimed by a pandemic that …
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